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From Jamaica...
Jamaica has more endemic bird species than
any other island in the Caribbean. And from
September to May, almost two-fifths of the song
birds in Jamaica are migrants from North
America. This rich birdlife is threatened by the
country’s extremely high deforestation rate of
5.3% per year, which is one of the highest in the
world. At least three endemic bird species are
considered extinct and many are endangered.
Conservation efforts are hampered by the general
population’s lack of environmental awareness and
knowledge of Jamaica’s natural heritage.
Some of Jamaica’s many endemics include (from left to right, top to
bottom): Crested Quail-Dove; Jamaican Tody: Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo;
Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo; Ring-tailed Pigeon; Red-billed Streamertail;
Black-billed Streamertail; Black-billed Parrot; Yellow-billed Parrot;
Jamaican Mango; Jamaican Becard; Jamaican Petrel; Jamaican
Woodpecker; Jamaican Owl; Jamaican Poorwill
Environmental education is a high priority for
Jamaica and Winged Ambassadors has supported
several projects to enhance people’s understand-ing
of their local wildlife and the importance of
protecting it. Highlights include:
Teacher’s Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. BirdLife
Jamaica (formerly Gosse Bird Club) published a
guide to help teachers develop children’s apprecia-tion
of birds and other wildlife. The guide compli-ments
the book, Birds of Jamaica, by A. Downer
and R. Sutton, and includes a series of activities
to make students aware of birds and their habi-tats,
and the need to conserve them. Using the
guide, students learn how to identify birds, collect
basic data, and set up simple conservation
projects on school or community grounds. An
accompanying color poster illustrates five birds
which are discussed in the guide.
Library of Natural Sounds. West Indies College
produced a recording of songs and calls from
many of Jamaica’s birds. The College used a
combination of previously existing recordings
along with new ones obtained from the field to
create this definitive collection. Software accom-panies
the recordings which identifies each
species and discusses pertinent natural history
and conservation issues. The Library of Natural
Sounds is used to train young people, and provide
information to ornithologists, educators and
natural resource managers about Jamaica’s birds.
Wildlife Slide Show, “Why Conserve?”. Jamaica
Junior Naturalists created a special narrated slide
show about the country’s wildlife. The show
introduces basic conservation concepts and issues
aimed at stimulating the interest of Jamaica’s
youth to protect the environment. The 10 minute
narration emphasizes the need to use natural
resources wisely and the value that ecosystems
such as mangrove forests and coral reefs provide
for both wildlife and humans. Jamaica Junior
Naturalists presented the show to each parish
library in Jamaica for an audience of older school-children
and adults.
Dominica...
Dominican Republic...
Known as the “Nature Island of the Caribbean”,
Dominica’s pristine forests and lush green valleys
are home to more bird species than any other
island in the Lesser Antilles. Two charismatic
parrots, the Imperial Parrot, and the Red-necked
Parrot, are found only in Dominica.
Winged Ambassadors partnered with several organi-zations
to raise public awareness about the need
to conserve wildlife in Dominica. The Conserva-tion
Education Campaign to Save the Imperial
and Red-necked Parrots, conducted by the For-estry
Division of Dominica and RARE Center for
Tropical Conservation, delivered a conservation
message to every person on the island through
songs, music videos, publications, posters,
bumper stickers, sermons, and school visits. As a
result of the campaign, 200 acres of forest were
set aside as a Parrot Reserve. Winged Ambassadors
has also collaborated with the Forestry Division
to publish the booklet, “Wildlife of Dominica”.
The Dominican Republic forms the eastern two-thirds
of the island of Hispaniola and is the
second largest country in the Caribbean. Ende-mism
is high on the island and 26 bird species are
found only here. Among these is the Bay-breasted
Cuckoo, which is endangered due to habitat loss
and its use as a cure for arthritis.
Winged Ambassadors works with local partners to
implement environmental education projects in
the Dominican Republic. Through evening
classes, the “Postgraduate Studies in Environmen-tal
Education” of the Instituto Tecnologico de
Santo Domingo trains actively employed profes-sionals
in environmental education techniques.
Participants can apply these lessons immediately
during their day jobs.
Winged Ambassadors is collaborating with the
Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Ameri-can
Bird Conservancy to study the ecology of the
Bicknell’s Thrush. This research will provide
crucial information about the endangered thrush’s
winter habitat in the Dominican Republic.
Bay-breasted Cuckoo
Imperial Parrot
Bahamas...
Antigua, Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti,
Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Turks & Caicos...
The Bahamas are an extensive chain of 2,700
islands and cays located just southeast of Florida.
Only 30 of these islands are permanently inhab-ited
by approximately 280,000 people. A large
number of birds migrate between the Bahamas
and North America. Endemic species include the
Bahama Woodstar, Brace’s Hummingbird, and the
Bahama Yellowthroat.
Winged Ambassadors is partnering with the Baha-mian
Department of Agriculture to enhance bird
conservation in the archipelago. Efforts include
the publication of a booklet entitled, “Natural
History of Cat
Island”, with a
special section on
migrant and resident
birds. The Department is
also producing a hunter’s
guide listing all the species
found in the Bahamas and
detailing their protection status.
This year, the Bahama Woodstar will be featured
on a poster which will be accompanied by a
conservation information factsheet.
Bahama Woodstar
Winged Ambassadors collaborates with conserva-tion
organizations on most of the Caribbean
islands. Some endeavors have a regional focus
and involve many partnerships. The “West Indian
Whistling-Duck and Wetland Conservation
Project” connects groups from Antigua, Barbuda,
Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic,
Jamaica, and the Turks & Caicos in an effort to
protect this endangered duck.
The main focus is a Carib-bean-
wide education and
awareness program to
lessen wetland loss and
reduce illegal hunting
pressure. Activities in-clude:
production of a
duck conservation and
natural history slide show,
a coloring book for chil-dren,
and a wetland educa-tion
workbook; construction
of Watchable Wildlife Ponds
where the public can view ducks;
and distribution of special plastic
identification cards for hunters
which distinguish the ducks
that can be hunted legally.
West Indian Whistling-Duck
The “Birds of Our Islands” poster series is an-other
region-wide effort to conserve birds in the
Caribbean. Winged Ambassadors partnered with
the Caribbean Conservation Association to
produce educational posters focused on both
resident and migratory birds of the Lesser
Antilles. The posters are used in schools and
other public facilities to increase local awareness
about bird conservation issues.
“Decattiere Nature Trail” is an example of an
island specific project supported by Winged
Ambassadors. Managed by St. Lucia’s Forestry
Department, the income generating trail attracts
ecotourists and provides excellent viewing of the
magnificent St. Lucia Parrot. RARE Center for
Tropical Conservation assisted in the design of
the trail. RARE Center also was involved in the
Conservation Education Campaigns for
Montserrat and St. Vincent. These campaigns
elevated local knowledge and appreciation for the
Montserrat Oriole and the St. Vincent Parrot.
To further bird conservation in Haiti, Winged
Ambassadors collaborated with the University of
Florida and Haiti-NET in “Green Actions”, a
series of training workshops on wildlife conserva-tion
and protected areas management for Haiti.
Winged Ambassadors
Bird Conservation in the Caribbean
Focus on Wildlife Fact Sheet Series
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of International Affairs
From large, gaudy parrots to small, migratory
warblers, the birds of the Caribbean repre-sent
a wide diversity of species. Many of the
islands have a special endemic avifauna found no
where else in the world. Hundreds of migratory
birds are dependent upon the islands either as a
stopover site for resting and refueling, or as a
place to spend the nonbreeding season. These
species are a source of pride to the Caribbean
people who treasure their uniqueness and value
their role as consumers of agricultural insect
pests and seed dispersers. As a key tourist
attraction, they also provide an important boost
to the local economy.
The long-term survival of
these birds is in jeopardy.
Deforestation, wetland
loss, overhunting, and
predation from intro-duced
predators threaten
most bird species. Sev-eral
endemics (restricted
species), such as the
Cuban Macaw and the
Grand Cayman Thrush
are now extinct. Island-ers
concerned about
these problems are
dedicated to preventing
further extinctions.
Winged Ambassadors, the hemisphere-wide conser-vation
initiative of the Fish and Wildlife Service,
is assisting Caribbean efforts to protect birds. For
more than 15 years, the initiative has helped local
people in the region conserve key bird habitat,
and has provided training to resource managers in
bird conservation techniques, and promoted
environmental education programs to inform
communities about the plight of birds. Projects
such as the Conservation Education Campaign to
Save the St. Vincent Parrot, The Birds of Our
Islands Poster Series, and the Conservation of
the West Indian Whistling Duck support local
endeavors to help birds.
Winged Ambassadors recently produced A Guide to
the Birds of the West Indies. Published by
Princeton University Press, the book focuses on
conservation issues. Artwork from the guide is
being used for environmental projects including a
poster series featuring endemic birds from 12
different islands. The birds that appear in this
brochure are all from the guide.
Please read on to learn more about these and
other projects supported by Winged Ambassadors.
St Vincent Parrot

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From Jamaica...
Jamaica has more endemic bird species than
any other island in the Caribbean. And from
September to May, almost two-fifths of the song
birds in Jamaica are migrants from North
America. This rich birdlife is threatened by the
country’s extremely high deforestation rate of
5.3% per year, which is one of the highest in the
world. At least three endemic bird species are
considered extinct and many are endangered.
Conservation efforts are hampered by the general
population’s lack of environmental awareness and
knowledge of Jamaica’s natural heritage.
Some of Jamaica’s many endemics include (from left to right, top to
bottom): Crested Quail-Dove; Jamaican Tody: Chestnut-bellied Cuckoo;
Jamaican Lizard-Cuckoo; Ring-tailed Pigeon; Red-billed Streamertail;
Black-billed Streamertail; Black-billed Parrot; Yellow-billed Parrot;
Jamaican Mango; Jamaican Becard; Jamaican Petrel; Jamaican
Woodpecker; Jamaican Owl; Jamaican Poorwill
Environmental education is a high priority for
Jamaica and Winged Ambassadors has supported
several projects to enhance people’s understand-ing
of their local wildlife and the importance of
protecting it. Highlights include:
Teacher’s Guide to the Birds of Jamaica. BirdLife
Jamaica (formerly Gosse Bird Club) published a
guide to help teachers develop children’s apprecia-tion
of birds and other wildlife. The guide compli-ments
the book, Birds of Jamaica, by A. Downer
and R. Sutton, and includes a series of activities
to make students aware of birds and their habi-tats,
and the need to conserve them. Using the
guide, students learn how to identify birds, collect
basic data, and set up simple conservation
projects on school or community grounds. An
accompanying color poster illustrates five birds
which are discussed in the guide.
Library of Natural Sounds. West Indies College
produced a recording of songs and calls from
many of Jamaica’s birds. The College used a
combination of previously existing recordings
along with new ones obtained from the field to
create this definitive collection. Software accom-panies
the recordings which identifies each
species and discusses pertinent natural history
and conservation issues. The Library of Natural
Sounds is used to train young people, and provide
information to ornithologists, educators and
natural resource managers about Jamaica’s birds.
Wildlife Slide Show, “Why Conserve?”. Jamaica
Junior Naturalists created a special narrated slide
show about the country’s wildlife. The show
introduces basic conservation concepts and issues
aimed at stimulating the interest of Jamaica’s
youth to protect the environment. The 10 minute
narration emphasizes the need to use natural
resources wisely and the value that ecosystems
such as mangrove forests and coral reefs provide
for both wildlife and humans. Jamaica Junior
Naturalists presented the show to each parish
library in Jamaica for an audience of older school-children
and adults.
Dominica...
Dominican Republic...
Known as the “Nature Island of the Caribbean”,
Dominica’s pristine forests and lush green valleys
are home to more bird species than any other
island in the Lesser Antilles. Two charismatic
parrots, the Imperial Parrot, and the Red-necked
Parrot, are found only in Dominica.
Winged Ambassadors partnered with several organi-zations
to raise public awareness about the need
to conserve wildlife in Dominica. The Conserva-tion
Education Campaign to Save the Imperial
and Red-necked Parrots, conducted by the For-estry
Division of Dominica and RARE Center for
Tropical Conservation, delivered a conservation
message to every person on the island through
songs, music videos, publications, posters,
bumper stickers, sermons, and school visits. As a
result of the campaign, 200 acres of forest were
set aside as a Parrot Reserve. Winged Ambassadors
has also collaborated with the Forestry Division
to publish the booklet, “Wildlife of Dominica”.
The Dominican Republic forms the eastern two-thirds
of the island of Hispaniola and is the
second largest country in the Caribbean. Ende-mism
is high on the island and 26 bird species are
found only here. Among these is the Bay-breasted
Cuckoo, which is endangered due to habitat loss
and its use as a cure for arthritis.
Winged Ambassadors works with local partners to
implement environmental education projects in
the Dominican Republic. Through evening
classes, the “Postgraduate Studies in Environmen-tal
Education” of the Instituto Tecnologico de
Santo Domingo trains actively employed profes-sionals
in environmental education techniques.
Participants can apply these lessons immediately
during their day jobs.
Winged Ambassadors is collaborating with the
Vermont Institute of Natural Science and Ameri-can
Bird Conservancy to study the ecology of the
Bicknell’s Thrush. This research will provide
crucial information about the endangered thrush’s
winter habitat in the Dominican Republic.
Bay-breasted Cuckoo
Imperial Parrot
Bahamas...
Antigua, Barbuda, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti,
Montserrat, Nevis, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Turks & Caicos...
The Bahamas are an extensive chain of 2,700
islands and cays located just southeast of Florida.
Only 30 of these islands are permanently inhab-ited
by approximately 280,000 people. A large
number of birds migrate between the Bahamas
and North America. Endemic species include the
Bahama Woodstar, Brace’s Hummingbird, and the
Bahama Yellowthroat.
Winged Ambassadors is partnering with the Baha-mian
Department of Agriculture to enhance bird
conservation in the archipelago. Efforts include
the publication of a booklet entitled, “Natural
History of Cat
Island”, with a
special section on
migrant and resident
birds. The Department is
also producing a hunter’s
guide listing all the species
found in the Bahamas and
detailing their protection status.
This year, the Bahama Woodstar will be featured
on a poster which will be accompanied by a
conservation information factsheet.
Bahama Woodstar
Winged Ambassadors collaborates with conserva-tion
organizations on most of the Caribbean
islands. Some endeavors have a regional focus
and involve many partnerships. The “West Indian
Whistling-Duck and Wetland Conservation
Project” connects groups from Antigua, Barbuda,
Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic,
Jamaica, and the Turks & Caicos in an effort to
protect this endangered duck.
The main focus is a Carib-bean-
wide education and
awareness program to
lessen wetland loss and
reduce illegal hunting
pressure. Activities in-clude:
production of a
duck conservation and
natural history slide show,
a coloring book for chil-dren,
and a wetland educa-tion
workbook; construction
of Watchable Wildlife Ponds
where the public can view ducks;
and distribution of special plastic
identification cards for hunters
which distinguish the ducks
that can be hunted legally.
West Indian Whistling-Duck
The “Birds of Our Islands” poster series is an-other
region-wide effort to conserve birds in the
Caribbean. Winged Ambassadors partnered with
the Caribbean Conservation Association to
produce educational posters focused on both
resident and migratory birds of the Lesser
Antilles. The posters are used in schools and
other public facilities to increase local awareness
about bird conservation issues.
“Decattiere Nature Trail” is an example of an
island specific project supported by Winged
Ambassadors. Managed by St. Lucia’s Forestry
Department, the income generating trail attracts
ecotourists and provides excellent viewing of the
magnificent St. Lucia Parrot. RARE Center for
Tropical Conservation assisted in the design of
the trail. RARE Center also was involved in the
Conservation Education Campaigns for
Montserrat and St. Vincent. These campaigns
elevated local knowledge and appreciation for the
Montserrat Oriole and the St. Vincent Parrot.
To further bird conservation in Haiti, Winged
Ambassadors collaborated with the University of
Florida and Haiti-NET in “Green Actions”, a
series of training workshops on wildlife conserva-tion
and protected areas management for Haiti.
Winged Ambassadors
Bird Conservation in the Caribbean
Focus on Wildlife Fact Sheet Series
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Office of International Affairs
From large, gaudy parrots to small, migratory
warblers, the birds of the Caribbean repre-sent
a wide diversity of species. Many of the
islands have a special endemic avifauna found no
where else in the world. Hundreds of migratory
birds are dependent upon the islands either as a
stopover site for resting and refueling, or as a
place to spend the nonbreeding season. These
species are a source of pride to the Caribbean
people who treasure their uniqueness and value
their role as consumers of agricultural insect
pests and seed dispersers. As a key tourist
attraction, they also provide an important boost
to the local economy.
The long-term survival of
these birds is in jeopardy.
Deforestation, wetland
loss, overhunting, and
predation from intro-duced
predators threaten
most bird species. Sev-eral
endemics (restricted
species), such as the
Cuban Macaw and the
Grand Cayman Thrush
are now extinct. Island-ers
concerned about
these problems are
dedicated to preventing
further extinctions.
Winged Ambassadors, the hemisphere-wide conser-vation
initiative of the Fish and Wildlife Service,
is assisting Caribbean efforts to protect birds. For
more than 15 years, the initiative has helped local
people in the region conserve key bird habitat,
and has provided training to resource managers in
bird conservation techniques, and promoted
environmental education programs to inform
communities about the plight of birds. Projects
such as the Conservation Education Campaign to
Save the St. Vincent Parrot, The Birds of Our
Islands Poster Series, and the Conservation of
the West Indian Whistling Duck support local
endeavors to help birds.
Winged Ambassadors recently produced A Guide to
the Birds of the West Indies. Published by
Princeton University Press, the book focuses on
conservation issues. Artwork from the guide is
being used for environmental projects including a
poster series featuring endemic birds from 12
different islands. The birds that appear in this
brochure are all from the guide.
Please read on to learn more about these and
other projects supported by Winged Ambassadors.
St Vincent Parrot